Enbridge Line 3 Project to Proceed After Minnesota PUC Decision

By Brad Kramer February 5, 2020 View Profile

Enbridge Inc. will be able to move forward with its Line 3 Replacement Project after a Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ruling on Feb. 3. The MPUC approved the project’s second revised Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and reaffirmed the pipeline’s applications for a certificate of need and routing permit.

“After nearly five years of community engagement, environmental review, regulatory and legal review, it’s good to see the Line 3 Replacement Project move forward,” said Vern Yu, Executive Vice President, Liquids Pipelines at Enbridge. “It is a $2.6 billion investment in the state’s critical energy infrastructure, but from the start of the project has been about improving safety and reliability for communities and the environment. We now look forward to next steps on the project’s remaining permits.” The replacement of Line 3 is the most studied pipeline project in Minnesota history.

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Enbridge will continue to work with the state and federal permitting agencies to finalize the permits required to start construction.

RELATED: More Than 7,400 People in Minnesota Support Line 3 Project

The $2.9 billion (USD) U.S. portion of the Line 3 Replacement Program, known as the Line 3 Replacement Project, consists of replacing existing 34-in. pipe with new 36-in. pipe for 13 miles in North Dakota, 337 miles in Minnesota and 14 miles in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin portion was completed in 2018.

Overall, the multibillion-dollar Line 3 Replacement Program is the largest project in Enbridge history. The new Line 3 will comprise the newest and most advanced pipeline technology — and provide much needed incremental capacity to support Canadian crude oil production growth, and U.S. and Canadian refinery demand.

With a $5.3 billion (CAD) Canadian component and the aforementioned U.S. component, the Line 3 Replacement Program expands on the former Line 3 Segment Replacement Program, and will include all remaining segments of Line 3 between Hardisty, Alberta, and Superior, Wisconsin.

All told, the Line 3 Replacement Program will fully replace 1,031 miles (1,660 km) of Line 3 with new pipeline and associated facilities on either side of the Canada-U.S. international border.